


Part of Your World

by CHARLIE_LIMA_WHISKEY_FOXTROT



Category: Professional Wrestling, The Little Mermaid (1989), World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, F/M, Fairy Tale Retellings, Fluff, Never make deals, Triple H is evil!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-28
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 20:15:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10749018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CHARLIE_LIMA_WHISKEY_FOXTROT/pseuds/CHARLIE_LIMA_WHISKEY_FOXTROT
Summary: Ever heard the story of the Little Mermaid? Well, you haven't heard this version. Our heroes aren't mermaids but actually mermen who are brothers; there's a cruel sea witch, an evil tyrannical king, and a very heroic princess. There's lots of action, adventure, and even a little romance. Or the fic where the Shield are mermen. You never knew you wanted to read something like this.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This was originally posted on fanfiction last year, but we decided to post it here as well. Enjoy the Prologue!

# Part of Your World

## Prologue

"Daddy, I don't want them to come over," complained the young girl as she began to break into a coughing fit once again which felt like the millionth time that day. "I want you to stay with me."

The little girl seemed to have come down with a nasty virus. It was going around her school and all the children were falling ill. Today was already the second day she had been home sick from school and tomorrow wasn't looking good for the little girl either.

Her father sighed as he straightened his tie and walked over to his daughter's bed handing her a cup of water and frowned. "You know your mama and I have had plans for this night for months. Plus, you love your uncles. What's come over you?"

The girl huffed in annoyance and rolled her eyes at her father. Her father raised an eyebrow unsure of where his daughter had learned such an awful tactic... probably from his brothers. He did want to stay with his daughter and not wear this monkey suit out in public. It was his night off, but his wife had been planning this date night for months, and if he backed out now, he was a dead man.

"But Daddy, they are so weird. One always talks about his hatred of clothes, and the other always wants me to practice my cartwheels. He has this idea in his head I'm going to be like you, but you all know I want to be a ballerina," explained the girl. "And they never want to do any girly things! Like tonight, all I want is a bedtime story, and I bet they don't even know any!"

The father patted his daughter's knee, "You'd be surprised about the stories your uncles know, darling. I'm sure you'll have a good time with them."

"Fine," groaned the girl. "But if they pinch my cheeks…"

The father shook his head at his daughter's antics. She was certainly something else when she was sick. He did feel for the little girl, but before he could get any further into the conversation with her, did his brothers burst through the door to his daughter's room.

The two tumbled through the doorway into the little girl's room.

"I swear, you forget how to walk sometimes," grumbled one of her uncles as he untangled his legs from the others. The other propped himself on his elbows shrugging innocently at his little brother and looking up at his niece from where he lay on the carpet, "Hi babygirl!"

"Brothers," greeted her father with a raised eyebrow at the two of them. "I left all the emergency numbers on the table downstairs and you both have my cellphone number. The poor girl isn't feeling well so take it easy on her. We'll be back around midnight if not later, probably."

"Okay Uce," one of them smirked grabbing her father's hand pushing him out of the bedroom, "We've got this! Now you and your lady go out on the town, have some fun, be crazy!"

"But not too crazy!" the younger one cautioned as he went to sit where her father had been sitting on the bed with her. "We'll see you when you get home."

Her father ran a hand through his hair and with one last glance gave in to letting his brothers look after his baby girl. Hopefully, they would go easy on her tonight he thought as he joined his wife at the bottom of the staircase walking out the door for their date night.

"They're gone," said her older uncle, smirking as he watched the lights from the car pull out of the driveway and head down the street. "So what do you want to do, kid? Paint the town red? Eat a ton of candy? Have your other uncle here teach you a bunch of wrestling moves?"

The girl sighed and rolled her eyes. "What I would like for you to do is tell me a story…"

"A story?" questioned her uncles in unison.

"Yes, a bedtime story," the girl said as she once again broke into a hard, wet cough as the younger uncle handed the little girl her glass of water. "A fairy tale."

The brothers exchanged a look the young girl didn't recognize before smiling at each other as if they knew a secret she didn't.

"We can do that quite easily, babygirl," the older uncle said with a smile as he sat on the opposite side of the girl as her younger uncle was sitting on.

"You can?" questioned the skeptical girl in confusion.

"We most certainly can, sweetheart," the young one said quickly perking up. "Have you ever heard the story of The Little Mermaid?"

The girl looked at her uncle's confused, "Yep, it's my favorite fairytale. I know it by heart!"

"Well darling, you haven't heard this version of the story," the older explained. "Our heroes aren't mermaids, but actually mermen who are brothers; there's a cruel sea witch who knows magic, an evil king, and a very heroic, yet independent princess. There's lots of action, adventure, and even a little romance."

The girl looked up at her uncle's intrigued by what they were saying.

"Looks like we got somebody's interest," smirked one of her uncles.

"Hook, line, and sinker," stated the other. "So where should we start?"

The other man snapped his fingers and smirked at the little girl once again, "Once upon a time, there was a secret underwater kingdom. Unfortunately this underwater kingdom wasn't a utopia as you might like to imagine it. It was ruled with an iron (abet slightly rusted since its underwater) fist of the Great King of Kings, King Triple H…"

Sierra Hotel India Echo Lima Delta Sierra Hotel India Echo Lima Delta Sierra Hotel India Echo Lima Delta

Once upon a time, there was a secret underwater kingdom. Unfortunately this underwater kingdom wasn't a utopia as you might like to imagine it. It was ruled with an iron (abet slightly rusted since it's underwater) fist of the Great King of Kings, King Triple H.

Everyone that inhabited the kingdom was under his control and lacked a basic level of free will. He achieved this level of control with the help of magic.

Every so often, an inhabitant would find the fancy to rebel and attempt to jump ship. This happened fairly recently with a Pacific Beardfish by the name of Daniel Bryan; however, with the assistance of some underhanded tactics, the threat was readily eliminated.

However, there were still rumors that floated around the kingdom. Some would swear that if you approached Stephanie and asked for the Sea Witch's assistance, she would grant you the ability to walk on the surface world, freely. Another rumor that surfaced after Edge and Christian had disappeared was that the two had gone to her and in exchange for something valuable, they had their freedom…

That was the bottom of the problem though. Nothing was free. No one knew what was to be sacrificed, so not many were willing to gamble.

But really, our story begins in this kingdom with one particular merman, Dean Ambrose and his brothers…

Sierra Hotel India Echo Lima Delta Sierra Hotel India Echo Lima Delta Sierra Hotel India Echo Lima Delta


	2. Human Stuff

## Chapter 1: Human Stuff

"You know how creepy you're being right now?" Roman's deep voice broke Dean out of his revere.

Dean shook his head. "What?'

Roman grinned. "I don't know if it's just in our culture, but I think that this stalking thing is weird."

Dean rolled his eyes. "It's not stalking if she's coming to me. How can I stalk her if I can't follow her?"

Seth swam up to his brothers. "That's the problem, man. Every time that princess takes a ship out, you spend the entire time gazing up at her, dreamily. No offense, Dean, but you're torturing yourself here."

Dean shrugged. "I don't see any harm with it. It's not like I'll actually do anything…"

Roman grinned over at Seth. "I think Dean's in love."

Dean glared at him. "I'm not in love. It's just that something just feels right about her."

Roman threw an arm around Dean's shoulders. "We don't judge, brother. We're just here to keep you company and keep you out of trouble."

Seth poked Dean's side. "Or to save you from being caught in a big net…Whichever is more crucial."

Dean scowled. "That was only once, and it wasn't even my fault."

"Sure, sure," Seth said, condescendingly.

Roman just smiled in a pacifying way.

"I'm serious. It was just that it was dark and I had that stupid cough and- Wait. What's that over there?"

"What?"

"Over there!" Dean said as he darted away, swimming furiously.

"Dean!" Seth called after him as he took off after his brother, leaving Roman to sigh and half-heartedly follow after the two. It wasn't like he wasn't concerned about his brothers; he just didn't feel like it was necessary to always be in such a stinking hurry all the time.

"Neptune! Look at this! Look at this thing!" Dean shouted waving something around in the water.

"What is that?" Seth asked; his brow was furrowed in confusion.

"I don't know! But it's awesome!"

Roman finally caught up to the two, and he was in the midst of wondering why he didn't always have some seaweed tied around his brothers' tails. It would be so much easier to keep track of them that way.

"Let me see already! Hold it still a minute!"

Dean stopped waving the object around and presented it to his brothers, wearing a proud smirk. "Ta freaking da"

It was a relatively small object, slightly longer than Dean's hand and metallic. It had a narrow handle that stretched into four skinny prongs on the opposite end from the handle.

"Huh," Roman said as he mused, trying to figure out the purpose of such a strange object. "That is pretty cool. But what the heck is it for?"

Seth smiled mischievously. "You don't know?"

Roman peered closer and shrugged. "Maybe humans stick it in their hair to keep it in place."

Dean smiled dreamily. "I bet it belongs to her."

"Yeah? And what would she use it for, Deano?"

"I don't know. Maybe she uses it to scratch her back. Or scrape algae off of walls or something..."

Roman wrinkled his nose. "That's not really an attractive mental image, Dean. I think imagining it as a hair ornament is better."

"Who cares? All that matters is it might have been in her own fins …"

"It's a fork, you dorks."

Roman grimaced. "Cool it with the swears, Seth. There's no reason to call us that. And what's a fork?"

"Sorry," Seth said. "That was rude of me. A fork is something the humans use to eat. You stab things with the pokey end."

Dean nodded in approval. "Stabbing things, huh?"

"Food things, Dean. Nothing living."

Dean pouted. "Fine, let's get this back to the Grotto, so Triple H doesn't see us with it."

"Yeah, that's the last thing we'd need," Roman said, softly.

Seth wrinkled his nose and said as they swam away from the ship and the open waters, "that guy gives me the creeps. I know I shouldn't say crap like that, but I don't like how fixated he is on us. It's not normal."

As the three made their way to the hidden grotto, they didn't notice the sleuthing stingray that was following them. When they reached the hidden entrance, they carefully entered, and the stingray smirked. Triple H would love to hear about this.

Dean quickly swam over to his corner and proudly placed his newly acquired fork on the candelabra to display it properly.

"Doesn't it look great in my collection?" Dean asked with a big grin.

Roman and Seth admired the shining fork that perched on the candelabra with a knife, a spoon, and several other rusty forks.

"Yeah, looks great! It fits right in with the others!"

"I like it," Roman said, simply.

Seth swam over to his personal collection of musical instruments. He reverently touched a trombone. "I really wish I could find someone who can play one of these. How cool would it be to actually hear what it sounds like on the Surface World? Air makes a huge difference to how they actually sound. At least that's what I've come to believe. I could be wrong though."

"It can't sound all that different," Roman said with a shrug.

"Yeah, it can! They don't make any sounds underwater!"

Roman frowned and carefully picked up one of his dozens of hairbrushes. "I wonder if these work any differently on the surface." He shrugged and carefully brushed his hair.

Dean sighed and glanced at his brothers. "Well, should we head back? We don't want to raise any red flags."

Seth nodded. "We should. Last thing we need is Hunter becoming suspicious."

The three brothers swam out of the grotto, and Dean glanced back at his new fork, longing to find the Princess, so he could be part of her world, too.


	3. I Want The Good Times Back: Part I (Triple H Interlude)

## Chapter 2: I Want The Good Times Back: Part I (Triple H Interlude)

The underwater kingdom wasn't always ruled by the dictatorship of Triple H. Long, long, long ago, Hunter was actually one of the kindest mermen around, but one day something changed in him. Some say it was the day King McMahon was murdered while others argued it was the day Shawn Michaels disappeared from the underwater realm altogether. However, those who knew the truth knew those two days were one in the same.

Ever since Shawn and Hunter were young mermen, they had been the best of friends. Together they brought joy and laughter to the many merfolk of Atlantis with their antics and jokes as they swam about the kingdom. The two best friends were inseparable… at least according to the gossiping gar was what everyone in the underwater kingdom believed until Hunter met Stephanie.

Hunter was a rebellious young merman, but once he laid eyes on Princess Stephanie, he knew he had to have her. She was the most beautiful mermaid in all of the seven seas. Her beauty radiated all throughout the oceans. In his heart of hearts, Hunter knew she could never be his, for she was royalty and he was nothing more than just your average merman. Lucky enough for him, Shawn was in the elite royal guard of King McMahon's court.

Shawn, being the good hearted soul he was, introduced the two merpeople to each other at one of the royal functions. Immediately, Stephanie was smitten with Hunter. However, Hunter began to crave more than just Stephanie's love, he needed to have power. If only Shawn had known that he had just signed the deal to Atlantis' ultimate demise.

Once Hunter met Stephanie, Shawn felt completely removed from his best friend. He was constantly feeling like a third fin. Slowly, the two best friends were starting to drift apart from each other. To clear his mind from these thoughts, the young merman would often go up to the surface world to lie on the beach and mull over his problems.

That was when Shawn fell in love with the surface world. He loved watching the humans run, dance and skip. He loved watching them run on the beach wiggling their toes in the sand. He loved watching the human couples dance. He loved watching the children skip, hand in hand around on the grassy knolls. He loved watching the humans play with their trinkets. He wondered how they figured out how these things worked. He loved everything about the human world. He wanted to join them, at least up here he would feel like he belonged.

The sea had nothing left to give him. His best friend was too busy wooing the fins off the girl of his dreams (and trying to gain the crown, but Shawn didn't know that). There was peace in the the underwater utopia, so there wasn't really a need for an elite guard soldier like himself, right now.

This would be the perfect time to escape to the surface world.

How would he do such a feat?

No one had gone to the surface world before and walked on land, but he knew there was a way. There had to be a way. The old scrolls in the castle talked about ancient magic which could grant such a wish. But what sorcerer or sorceress would do such a thing?

Then he realized Stephanie was practicing magic as part of her training to become the next Queen of Atlantis. Surely, she could make his wish of being human come true. She was the key to getting his wish fulfilled and living his dream.

However, if Shawn wouldn't have been plotting to escape the sea, he would have seen the transformation that was happening to his best friend.

Hunter couldn't stand King McMahon berating him. The old codger reluctantly accepted his pleas to marry Stephanie, once he had proposed Stephanie and expected McMahon to give make him the crown of Atlantis immediately. For some reason though, Vince saw something in Hunter many others did not.

What the king saw would make any merperson scream with fear because the young man had a heart brimming with darkness and evil intentions. A heart overfilled with hatred, jealousy, anger, no one like that should rule the kingdom of Atlantis in King McMahon's opinion.

King McMahon vowed to himself as long as he was alive Hunter would not be allowed to marry Stephanie, unluckily for him, Hunter overheard the old fool's muttering to himself about this issue. The young merman decided if the old codger wasn't going to give him what he wanted then, he'd just take Stephanie and the crown for himself.

On a dreary night under the sea, Hunter snuck into the King's chambers with a plan, a killer one at that. It just so happened luck was on his side making him the only merperson in the chambers for the evening. He had grabbed some poison from Stephanie's potion collection and quietly poured a deadly dosage over the King's coral salad. Happily, Hunter served the delicious yet deadly delicacy to the king and within minutes the man toppled over in his arms… dead.

"This will teach you, you old fool," cackled Hunter, "I will rule Atlantis and there won't be a damn thing you can do about it. Stephanie and I will be together forever… Plus I was the only one here to witness your murder and you know what that means… you named me your successor and gave me permission to finally marry Stephanie!

"I guess you could say I win!" Triple H smiled slimily before transforming his slick talk into soberly somber sad shouting, "SOMEONE HELP! THE KING! HE'S BEEN POISONED! HELP! PLEASE, HELP!"

Not far from King McMahon's chambers, Shawn was pleading his own case to Stephanie. The day Shawn Michaels asked Stephanie for this favor would go down in Atlantean history as one of the worst ever. Hunter's heart had already become pure black after committing King McMahon's murder, but Stephanie was about to lose something too on this day. Her beauty would turn into gruesome tendrils of hate causing her to become a monster and Atlantis would no longer be the beautiful utopian society it had once been.

"I'm sorry, Shawn, but magic like that comes at a very steep price," Stephanie attempted to reason with the merman after listening to him plead his case about her practicing a spell to turn him human, "Nothing is free when it comes to magic, especially a dark spell like the one you are asking me to cast."

Shawn looked down at his tail defeated by the young mermaid's response. He could just accept this and leave, but that wasn't the way of Shawn Michaels. No, if he wanted something he would go after it full bore, no ifs, and's, or buts.

"You've taken everything from me! My best friend has no time for me because of you and his trying to woo your father to give his blessing to gain your hand in marriage. I'm no longer wanted here under the sea. Just let me have this! No, I demand you give me this, you worthless excuse for a mermaid! You're not a real sorceress, you're just some little mermaid parading around to be one!"

Stephanie growled angrily at Shawn. How dare he call her a little mermaid… and worthless?! Did he not know his rightful place in the kingdom, he should bow to her! She had powers that would make merbabies cry in their sleep! No, she certainly was not worthless. As Shawn began to swim away, Stephanie quickly shouted after him.

"Fine, I'll do it… under one condition!" Stephanie shouted as she raised her perfectly manicured hand to Shawn as he swiveled around quickly to look at her.

"Name your price," Shawn answered confidently.

"When I turn you human, you never return to the sea… ever. No walking on the beach. No sailing out on the ocean. None of that. You can never come back here, do you hear me? Oh, and one other thing, you never speak a word of this to Hunter. Understood?"

"Why?" questioned Shawn confused about why he had to give up his underwater home.

"Because every magic spell has a price and you must barter something. You will barter away your friendship with Hunter and home if you want to walk on land that desperately."

Shawn nodded his head in understanding. Sure, so what if he could never come home again? No one would miss him anyway. No one would know he was gone. He wanted to be where the people were because flipping his fins certainly wasn't getting him very far.

"I understand," answered the merman aloud acknowledging Stephanie's request.

"I hope you do," Stephanie sighed, "What we are about to do will send ripples through the ocean for years to come. Nothing is free, Shawn and I hope you are willing to the pay the price."

And so, Stephanie transformed Shawn that night and he swam with his human legs up to the surface world to never be seen or heard from again by the residents of Atlantis. Shawn got his happily ever after by going to be part of the surface world, but at the price of never returning home or seeing his best friend again.

When Stephanie arrived home late that evening, she found the whole kingdom in mourning over her father's assassination. Hunter consoled her and told her of how an evil fiend had poisoned the great King McMahon. He also told her of how with the king's dying breath Hunter had been given the crown and blessing to rule the kingdom. Stephanie nodding in understanding as she hung her head in mourning with Hunter's strong arms grasped around her, if only she knew what the mad merman had done to her father.

The kingdom mourned for the loss of their king, but soon enough Hunter and Stephanie were wed. Immediately following their wedding day, Hunter's coronation to become King of Atlantis took place. Shortly thereafter, the King of Kings learned of what had happened to Shawn Michaels.

Once Hunter learned of Shawn becoming a two-legged freak (because no one in all of Atlantis could keep a secret), did the King of the Oceans vow his hatred toward everything human. From that day forward, he ruled the seven seas with iron fist and tyranny. Any merperson caught trying to leave Atlantis would be severely punished. Any merperson caught going to the surface would be drafted and forced to join the elite royal guard. Any merperson who had anything to do with humans whatsoever would be forced to be Hunter's own personal slave in the elite guard.

Meanwhile, after learning of Stephanie's deceit, Triple H had cast his once loved aside. He told her if she ever wanted his love again, the woman would have to learn how to change humans back into merpeople and bring Shawn back to the ocean. Until then, she was forever banished from Atlantis and forced to live out her days in the wastelands of the ocean. Before she left Atlantis, however, she gave Triple H one last gift. A gift that would showcase to his royal subjects the true monster he was.

Stephanie cursed Triple H to look as putrid on the outside as he was on the inside. His eyes were replaced with a ghastly red glow. His skin popped around the top of his skull while his skin also took on an unholy dark purple appearance. His arms grew to have dark wings attached to them while his tail became more like a stinger than a merperson's. The King of Kings was now more stingray than merman. An appearance befitting his black heart in Stephanie's opinion.

Triple H's hate filled heart darkened the waters of Atlantis from that day forward and no amount of uprisings the merpeople attempted could ever stop his tyranny.

However, under Triple H's steady influence, Stephanie's existence had become that of a legend to the merpeople. Only a few who dared defy Triple H's laws and willingly sought out the wasteland where she had taken up her exile knew of her existence.

Stephanie's story though is a whole another chapter in itself.


	4. The World Above

## Chapter 3: The World Above

While the Shield brothers swam around together under the sea trying to evade Triple H's laws, another predicament was brewing up not far away from them on the surface of the ocean involving a very young, independent and strong-willed princess.

"Your highness! Get down from there this instant! Being up in the sails swinging about is no place for a Princess," shouted one of her royal advisors, "Why on earth did I ever promise your father I would look out for you after he passed?"

The princess rolled her vibrant brown eyes as she grabbed one of the ropes and swung onto the starboard of the ship, her boots clicking and clacking as she hit the deck. Her short auburn hair fell over her shoulders. She was dressed in a light petticoat with dress pants and boots going up to her knees. Leave it to Christian, her royal advisor, to think he knew what was best for her, especially these days. The young woman sighed as she planted her feet firmly on the ground.

"We should think about going back to court, your highness," Christian tried to advise her once more, "Your suitors are probably all wondering where you have been."

"The reason I came out here, Christian, was to get away from those idiots," Princess Sonia stated firmly as she walked over to the steering wheel of the ship dismissing the crew member who was doing the duty and taking the position at the helm, "They don't want love, all they want is my power! 'Oh to be King of Excalibur,' they say, 'We will rule the seven seas trading market easily if we marry the late King's daughter. It will be so easy!' I know those nimrods; they think I'm a prize to be won, well guess what? I'm not! I have the same rights as them, and I am a better leader than all of them combined!"

It was a very little known fact the Kingdom of Excalibur did rule the seven seas trading market. Some people said it was a monopoly, but since the late King had fallen ill the economy had declined. The princess had been trying to do everything possible to make sure she kept her people calm and everything positive going forward. However, as time passed the king become more ill causing the kingdom to tumble into chaos.

With King Foley's last breath, he made his daughter agree to find a royal suitor to marry by her 21st birthday. King Foley knew Sonia would do him proud, but having a king would calm the kingdom. With less than four days left until her birthday, Sonia had run away from her responsibilities to the open ocean not wanting to be surrounded by pretentious princes parading around her. Sonia craved freedom and to not to be caged in a castle or held by the bonds of society that wanted her to be the Queen.

Christian huffed in frustration as he put a gentle hand on the Princess's shoulder. He could feel the intensity of her anger radiating off her. But the Princess had inherited not just her Father's kingdom, but also his stubbornness. This was one of the reasons Christian thought he did not get paid enough and wanted to ask the royal executives for a raise.

Christian and Edge, the other royal advisor of the Princess, had taken up the positions of the king for now, but the within the next few days the Princess was to turn 21 and if she did not have a suitor by then chaos would surely overrun the kingdom. There were rumors swirling about an invasion from the north. The Norther kingdom ruled by the unruly King Kevin Owens wanted to take Excalibur for its own. Surely, Owens would force Princess Sonia into marriage leaving chaos in his wake while destroying the kingdom in the process too.

"You can't run away from this forever, my dear," Christian tried to reason with her as he followed her about the ship, "The suitors have come from kingdoms far and wide to meet you. Prince John Cena is dashing, strong, and will fight any battle you need him to. While Prince CM Punk is a very strong leader giving his people a voice for the voiceless in his kingdom. And Prince Dolph Ziggler has a heart of gold."

The Princess rolled her eyes as she moved from the helm to gaze out over the railing into the vast wide ocean propping out her elbow resting her chin on her hand, "What kind of name is Dolph, anyway? And each of them has their flaws, Christian. I listen to you and Edge while you gossip behind me in the royal court, you know. Oh, the things I have heard from the two of you over the years! Cena is a goody-goody who is just after my power and has true commitment issues. CM Punk is essentially what his name calls him, a punk who likes to hear himself talk and won't show up when you need him most. And Dolph, gah! I hate him, he's such an arrogant, narcissistic prick! Why can't I just marry myself?"

"Edge and I really need to be quiet," muttered Christian under his breath as he joined his charge at the side of the ship, "Sonia, you can't avoid this forever, you know that."

"But Christian," sighed Sonia as she looked out over the ocean dreamily, "I love being out on the ocean. I don't want to be cooped up in the castle for the rest of my life and just be a seen when my husband needs me or just to produce babies so Excalibur can have another royal heir. I want to be able to be out here and feel the fresh sea air hitting my face. I want to rule the kingdom my way while still having adventure! Until that happens, I will avoid the castle for as long as I possibly can."

Christian smiled at the young princess knowing she had her mother's heart and her father's will. With the two characteristics of them combined, the young woman was sure to be a noble leader, but she couldn't be that leader if she wasn't married.

"Princess," Christian tried to reason again while running a hand through his long blonde locks, "You know as well as I do we have to go back to court. If not for finding a suitor for you, but so we can prepare for your birthday celebration."

The princess shook her head not wanting to even think about going back to court. Sonia knew how Christian worked and this was just one of his many schemes. If the royal advisor hadn't been keeping such a close eye on her, she would have jumped overboard by now swimming as far as she possibly could. The blue waves bobbed up and down in the ocean while smacking the deck as Sonia longingly gazed out at the open ocean.

The princess looked over the railing catching the glimpse of something bobbing up and down in the water a few feet away from their ship. The figure seemed to be staring right at her. Sonia raised an eyebrow squinting at the figure while piercing her lips together in wonder. If the young woman didn't know any better, she could have sworn that was a person out there in the ocean. That didn't make sense, no human could be out here in the middle of the ocean or could possibly swim that far from the shore. With a perplexed look of confusion the Princess turned back toward Christian.

"Did you see that?" questioned the young woman as she turned to Christian then back to the spot where she had seen the figure in the water and saw the figure was now gone, "I swear I saw something…"

"Your Highness, I think you're seeing things or have inhaled way too much sea salt," Christian sighed as he began to lead the Princess away from the railing of the ship not wanting her to jump over board. The royal advisor wouldn't have put it against the young woman to swim away from her problems.

"I swear, Christian, there was something out there!" Sonia chided as she looked back over her shoulder into the open ocean while Christian yanked her away from the side of the boat.

It just so happened if the Princess would have looked down on the side of the ship as she was being yanked away she would have seen Dean Ambrose staring up enchanted by her. He had surfaced and saw the ship, but he wanted a closer look now. The young merman had never been this close to humans before, but he wanted to see the princess up close. Forks were great and all, but to meet this girl, this human girl, he would trade in his tail for any day. To have the freedom the Princess had and not be restricted by the rules of Triple H's undersea kingdom. Dean yearned for it, no, he craved to have a taste of the freedom the Princess had. If only, there were some way he could meet this Princess and walk on land with her...

"You idiot," Seth scolded as he smacked the back of his brother's head snapping Dean out of his revere, "You know we can't be up here on the surface! Twice in one day, Dean! Hunter and his goons are going to get suspicious and watch us like hawks! If we get caught, we can kiss whatever was left of our freedom goodbye!"

"Yea," Roman echoed as he popped up from under the sea to bob beside Seth, "Right by her ship, Dean, are you insane? If we get caught, Hunter will surely force us to join the elite royal guard and become his slaves!"

Ambrose innocently shrugged wanting the Princess to come back so he could catch a glimpse of her once more. She was so fierce from what he had overheard of her conversation. She intrigued him. It was as if Princess Sonia had cast a spell over him and he didn't know how to break it. The true kicker was the merman and princess could never be together, they were from two different worlds, one of land and one of sea. Dean sighed as he continued to try to will the Princess to come back, but was sadly disappointed when she didn't return to stare out into the ocean. Her royal advisor was probably keeping her as far away from him as possible on purpose.

"We should go before someone catches us," Seth said looking around worried one of the King's gang was going to pop out at any moment to ambush them, "Plus being this close to humans makes me nervous. You know how I feel about being caught in a net, guys."

"Can't we stay longer?" Dean whined quickly glancing at his brothers before turning his full attention back to the ship.

"Dean, what has gotten into you?" questioned Roman with a raised eyebrow, "What's got your tail in a twist that we can't swim home? Wait, this is a royal ship isn't it?"

"No," Dean attempted to lie, but Roman and Seth exchanged knowing looks before identical sly smirks crossed their faces. The blonde merman let out a huff of annoyance knowing his brothers knew him all too well, "I saw the ship from the Grotto and it just so happened the Princess was actually looking out into the ocean."

Seth gasped, "Please, dear Neptune, tell me she didn't see you?!"

"I don't know," Dean answered with a shrug, "It doesn't matter it's not like her and I will ever be together. We can't be human; she can't become a mermaid. We're from two separate worlds and I'm not willing to leave the two of you out here in the ocean all alone. I mean who will pick the seaweed out of Roman's hair or make sure you don't do anything stupid, Seth?"

Before more could be said between the brothers did the sky above fill with dark clouds, thunder rumbled across the sky just, and a lightening bolt grazed through the darkness causing the vibrant color of the sky and sun to disappear behind the storm clouds.

"We need to go," Seth said attempting to push Dean underwater with Roman's help but failing miserably since he the blonde did not want to budge, "Ugh, fine. I don't know why you want to stay up here and get drenched when we could get drenched at home under the ocean."

"Haven't you learned not to question him, little brother?" Roman asked as he stood behind Dean and Seth watching the human chaos unfold on the ship above them.

Dean's eyes watched the crew scrambled about as he saw the Princess once again. She was running to help the crewmen tie down any loose masts and supplies that lay on deck not wanting any of the ship's cargo to fall overboard and be lost in the sea forever.

"The sea king must be very angry!" shouted one of the crewmen as large waves began to wash over the deck, "He usually never causes a storm like this unless he's angry over something."

"Sea King?" questioned the Princess confused as she grabbed the end of the rope the crewman was handing her tightening it around the cargo box quickly, "What are you talking about, Tugboat?"

"The sea king is a legend. There's no such thing. It's an old fish tale parents tell their children" said Christian with a roll of his eyes as he tried not to be washed overboard by the massive waves, "Don't listen, Sonia, it's hogwash."

"Whatever you say, Christian," Tugboat said with a chuckle as he ran over to help the rest of the crew, "Princess Sonia take the helm while I help the boys batten down the hatches!"

Sonia nodded her head swiftly in understanding and ran up the steps onto the deck grabbing the steering wheel while lightning continued to streak across the sky and thunder boomed in the background. The Princess kept a tight grip on the wheel as the waves crashed across the deck washing the crew all over the ship.

"Get the rigging on those sails tightened!" shouted Wade to his crewmen as they scrambled in a losing fight to battle against Mother Nature. It seemed Mother Nature was enjoying making puppets out of the crewmen as the wind and sea continued to throw them around.

Within minutes of Wade's shouting orders did the rigging above them snap from the sails, coming crashing down onto the deck and spinning about. Pieces of the loose sail wiped in the wind spinning around in circles as if performing a dance together that no one could copy. The loose rigging spun in the direction of the Princess slamming into her stomach knocking her clean off the deck. The young woman was thrown from the boat and off into the dark waters of the ocean.

"YOUR HIGHNESS!" shouted Tugboat as he quickly grabbed a life preserver throwing it out into the dark currents and waves, "The waves are too high. I can't see her anywhere, Christian!"

"SONIA!" cried Christian as he attempted to catch a glimpse of the Princess in the chaos. The royal advisor failed miserably though at trying to make out anything in the ocean waters as the hard rain pelted him in the face.

Before any of the mermen could get a word in edgewise, Dean was diving after the girl. He was going as fast as his fins could take him as he pushed through the underwater currents attempting to catch up with the Princess. He could sense Roman and Seth were hot on his tail wanting to save the young woman as well. Dean prayed silently to Poseidon that he would get there in time. The merman wasn't going to lose the Princess before he even got to actually meet her.

The princess tried to hold onto something that had been washed overboard with her, but every time her grip slipped as the hard rain pelted against her body causing it to become loose. She couldn't stop herself from slipping as she fell into the ocean beginning to sink to the bottom. She tried to swim back to the surface, but the current was too strong pulling her under. Her nostrils and eyes stung with salt filled seawater burning in pain. Her lungs desired fresh air but instead were drowned in the ocean water.

Well if she was going to die, at least it was somewhere she loved. Sonia never envisioned this was how it would happen though, but on the bright side, she wouldn't have to marry one of those idiotic princes from a surrounding kingdom. She would be able to die alone in peace.

Before Sonia could think more about her death though, the darkness overwhelmed her.

Dean finally reached the young woman pulling her close to him as he grabbed her body placing her bridal style against his torso. As fast as his fins could carry him, he pushed himself back toward the surface; he didn't care he was touching a human or even breaking some of Hunter's oldest and most sacred rules. This girl needed his help, and he was going to give it to her. He had watched from afar so long this almost felt like a dream to him. He knew better though.

Roman and Seth, who had finally caught up, swam beside him as they rushed toward the shoreline of one of the local coves. As they washed up onto the shoreline with the Princess, the brothers tried to catch their breaths huffing and puffing from the exhaustion of the rescue.

"Was I too late?" questioned Dean sadly as the human girl wasn't making any sudden movement.

Seth and Roman exchanged a look unsure of what to tell their brother as the princess lay unmoving on the sandy beach. How could they tell their brother the human he had been pursuing for so long was now lost to him forever before he even had the opportunity to meet her?

"Wait," Dean said, and he perked up as he saw the young woman's chest begin to go up and down. "Look, she's breathing! She's alive!"

"PRINCESS SONIA!"

"Humans!" cried Seth as he quickly grabbed Dean's hand and began to yank him away from the Princess who lay on the sandy beach in a vibrant cove. "We have to go now! We can't be caught!"

The princess's eyes began to flutter open as she began to make out three male figures who were staring at her with desperate looks on their faces. One of them, a blonde with ocean blue eyes which shone with a look of longing and adoration, smiled down at her showcasing his dimples. Sonia wanted to ask him his name, but by the time she had blinked the man was gone.

As desperately as Dean wanted to stay he nodded towards his brothers diving beneath the ocean surface not wanting to be caught by the other humans. This time though, he was positive the Princess had seen his face when he had been staring down at her. Maybe there was hope for him to be part of her world after all?

Once the brothers were far enough away they broke to the surface once again, Dean stopped to peek out from where they hid behind a large rock. He wanted to truly make sure the Princess was truly alright. Seth and Roman were still bobbing up and down in the ocean trying to wrap their fins around what had just transpired.

"PRINCESS Sonia!" shouted Christian as he came racing up the beach to the girl as she slowly began to come to and make more sense of her surroundings.

"Take it easy, Sonia," cautioned her other royal advisor, Edge, as he joined Christian kneeling beside her. "How on earth did you get here? Fate must have been very kind to you, we thought we'd lost you to the ocean forever."

Sonia shook her head for a moment trying to clear out all the cobwebs, "There was a man... He got me here somehow. I don't know how, but he did and then he disappeared into the ocean. He had the bluest eyes, they were as beautiful as the ocean itself."

"Your highness, you must have hit your head on a rock after the shipwreck. Men just don't disappear into the ocean," Edge tried to reason with her as he helped her up. The Princess took both of her advisor's hands while trying to find her balance. They began to lead her back to the castle slowly, but cautiously wanting her to take as much time as she needed. She was going to need all the rest she could get after her experience.

With a parting glance, she looked back out at the ocean once more saying a silent prayer up to the gods above while mouthing thank you back to the ocean for letting her continue to live.

A wide smirk encompassed Dean's face as he saw the Princess do this. His heart swelled three sizes larger than normal and he felt it flutter knowing in some sense Princess Sonia was essentially thanking him and his brothers for saving her. He etched the Princess's face into his mind not wanting to forget her or this whole experience.

This would be the moment Dean Ambrose vowed he would become part of Princess Sonia's world, someday, somehow, he would do it, he'd be part of her world starting right now.

As Dean bobbed back underwater with his brothers following close on his fins, they missed a sneaky stingray gliding about in the cove with a nasty smirk playing across its face. Randy Orton smirked all too happy to rat out the Shield brothers to his boss. Oh, when Orton went back to Triple H with the knowledge Ambrose, Reigns, and Rollins had been on the surface AND interacting with a human it was sure to cause Hunter's anger to come to a boil!

Those Shield boys would belong to Hunter soon enough and no one would be able to do anything about it. Once Hunter had those boys in his inner guard, their freedom and brotherhood would be dead permanently.


End file.
